Session
Speaker 1: Sonia Livingstone, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Mark West, Intergovernmental Organization, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Marie-Eve Nadeau, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Mark West, Intergovernmental Organization, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Marie-Eve Nadeau, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Moderator
Marie-Eve Nadeau, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Online Moderator
Sami Jaber, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Rapporteur
Sami Jaber, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Format
Theater
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: The theater format is best suited for this session, as we aim to encourage exchange between different approaches and perspectives. This session seeks to highlight best practices from across the world, which necessitates the dynamic and participative format afforded by the theatre layout. The session should last 90 minutes to ensure each of the diverse perspectives is adequately represented and that these can come together to form practical guidance. Each speaker will open the session with initial remarks in which they will spotlight best practices in the governance of EdTech for children’s rights from their region and/or specific field of expertise. The session will then transition into an open exchange between speakers and participants to ensure all voices are meaningfully represented. As the impacted individuals, children’s perspectives will form the core of the session.
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: The theater format is best suited for this session, as we aim to encourage exchange between different approaches and perspectives. This session seeks to highlight best practices from across the world, which necessitates the dynamic and participative format afforded by the theatre layout. The session should last 90 minutes to ensure each of the diverse perspectives is adequately represented and that these can come together to form practical guidance. Each speaker will open the session with initial remarks in which they will spotlight best practices in the governance of EdTech for children’s rights from their region and/or specific field of expertise. The session will then transition into an open exchange between speakers and participants to ensure all voices are meaningfully represented. As the impacted individuals, children’s perspectives will form the core of the session.
Policy Question(s)
1. How can we ensure EdTech products prioritise pedagogical value and children's best interests over engagement metrics and commercial interests?
2. How can we ensure EdTech companies are held accountable for systematically violating children’s rights, and how can these requirements be effectively implemented across different educational contexts and jurisdictions?
3. How can governments and regulators fulfil their responsibility to protect children’s rights in the digital world with regards to education by shifting responsibility from schools to EdTech companies?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants will develop a greater understanding of the issues surrounding EdTech, including relevant risks relating to children’s privacy and safety and the unproven pedagogical efficacy of these services. They will also gain appreciation for how EdTech impacts vary across different socioeconomic environments, with particular attention to digital divide concerns across different global regions.
They will deepen their understanding of how children's rights to privacy, protection, and quality education should inform EdTech design, procurement, and classroom implementation.
Finally, the session will equip participants with knowledge of emerging best practices for business conduct in the EdTech sector which respects children’s rights, including safety- and privacy-by-design approaches. The session will also set out governments’ role in protecting children’s rights in EdTech.
Description:
Since the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, education technology (EdTech) has become a permanent fixture in children’s schooling and education. The pandemic contributed to a huge expansion of the EdTech market and, despite promises to democratise education and reduce burdens for teachers, EdTech is largely untested, unregulated, and unaccountable. Evidence shows that the rollout of EdTech into schools has resulted in widespread violations of children’s rights, including through surveillance and profiling of children in education for commercial purposes, data transfers made without adequate protection, a lack of transparency by tech companies as to data collection, and failures to properly restrict the purposes for which children’s data could be used. These risks result from a lack of care by EdTech companies and consistent malpractice that prioritises profit over children’s best interests - notably by collecting and exploiting children's educational data. There is also a risk to children’s education stemming from the over-reliance on EdTech products, which are untested, unproven, and rely on out-of-date pedagogical thinking. This panel will explore how applying corporate responsibility principles can ensure EdTech is designed with children's rights and developmental needs at its core – rather than simply seeking to serve commercial interests. Panellists will share evidence-based assessments of EdTech's impact on learning outcomes across different contexts and communities. They will specifically address how EdTech influences children's right to quality education, privacy, protection, and freedom from exploitation as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and clarified in General comment No. 25.
Since the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, education technology (EdTech) has become a permanent fixture in children’s schooling and education. The pandemic contributed to a huge expansion of the EdTech market and, despite promises to democratise education and reduce burdens for teachers, EdTech is largely untested, unregulated, and unaccountable. Evidence shows that the rollout of EdTech into schools has resulted in widespread violations of children’s rights, including through surveillance and profiling of children in education for commercial purposes, data transfers made without adequate protection, a lack of transparency by tech companies as to data collection, and failures to properly restrict the purposes for which children’s data could be used. These risks result from a lack of care by EdTech companies and consistent malpractice that prioritises profit over children’s best interests - notably by collecting and exploiting children's educational data. There is also a risk to children’s education stemming from the over-reliance on EdTech products, which are untested, unproven, and rely on out-of-date pedagogical thinking. This panel will explore how applying corporate responsibility principles can ensure EdTech is designed with children's rights and developmental needs at its core – rather than simply seeking to serve commercial interests. Panellists will share evidence-based assessments of EdTech's impact on learning outcomes across different contexts and communities. They will specifically address how EdTech influences children's right to quality education, privacy, protection, and freedom from exploitation as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and clarified in General comment No. 25.
Expected Outcomes
This session will showcase international best practices and incorporate children's perspectives to provide participants with practical strategies to ensure EdTech companies protect and respect children's rights. The information presented will be specifically designed to benefit and meet the needs of government officials, policy experts, international organizations, regulatory bodies, and industry representatives.
Hybrid Format: Since our session showcases global approaches and perspectives, it is vital that all interested participants are able to access it. This requires deliberate online and onsite engagement plans.
We will involve online and onsite participants to the same extent, notably by alternating between online and onsite speakers, and allowing participants to intervene equally.
We will implement efficient communications channel within the organising team to ensure the online and onsite moderators can coordinate and adequately represent the perspectives in the room and online.
We will also deploy online tools to stimulate participation, including polls and surveys.